Kolkata Knight Riders CEO Venky Mysore today made it clear that the Shah Rukh Khan co-owned franchise would like the composition of the squad for the seventh edition of IPL to be "compact and manageable".
"We want to keep our squad very compact to make it more manageable. It will be based on need. We will figure out the optimum size, keeping in mind the need for this year and the future," Mysore said during a press conference at the JU (Salt Lake ground) here today.
Predictably enough, Mysore did not divulge the franchise's strategy ahead of the auctions in Bangalore on February 12 and 13.
"I don't know, so we will wait and see. We have to balance it some how and try and figure out what is the optimum formula keeping in mind of the auction."
Mysore however did not give a very convincing answer as to why current India speedster Mohammed Shami was not retained by the franchise along with Gautam Gambhir and Sunil Narine.
"It is relevant to point out that we actually had signed him in 2011 before he came into reckoning. Shami has done a fantastic job, we are so happy for him," Mysore answered.
KKR will have two Right to Match cards and they intend to wish it judciously while terming the retention rules as a "punitive" one.
Without revealing plans for whom they would bid, the KKR CEO said "Technically we have two joker cards and can pick any players who were with us. The other factor is price, it has to be appropriate.
"When you study the retention rules, you will realise that it has been made very punitive. You're punished for retaining in a way. Because, teams who have gone for full retention have already lost 65 per cent of their salary cap," he added.
"It will be very difficult to be active in the auction if you have already lost 65 per cent of the money. There is no right or wrong formula to this. But may be after the auction we will be able to say whether we can pat ourselves on the back or we made a mistake. We will wait for a week.
